What It Means To Love
by ShadowDragon1553
Summary: Yurio was never able to accurately show what he was feeling. Nor was he known for being able to express a feeling other than hate. But a new friend just might be able to change that. That is, if Yurio will let him.


**YurioxOtebek one-shot for ariri-chardson, who is my assignment for the YOI-secret-valentines project of 2017. This goes slightly off of the canon show but not too much. And the character might be slightly ooc but oh well. Suggested OtabekxYurio towards the end.**

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"Well, are you going to ask to be my friend or not?" Otabek questioned Yurio, the man in question not giving his answer a second thought as he quickly gave the taller male an affirmative.

Smiling up at Otabek, Yurio had no idea what his answer would lead to as the two of them made their way back to the hotel the ice skaters where all staying at.

"I made a friend," Yurio found himself announcing later that night as he had been dragged to dinner with the pig and Victor as soon as he had returned to the hotel.

"Really that's great!" Victor cheered for him with a beaming smile as he embraced the young skater in a hug.

"Uh, get off of me!" Yurio yelled as he shoved Victor off, causing the skater turned coach to be pushed back straight into Yuuri. Yurio scowling as he glared at Victor.

"This is exciting!" Victor continued to shout, undeterred by Yurio's foul mood towards him, "what's his name?"

"Otabek," Yurio answered simply.

"Really? Well that's good, you'll be able to see him more often since he's another skater instead of a local," Yuuri spoke.

"Yeah, good thing," Yurio repeated as the trio fell silent, only to be broken by Victor not even a moment later as the living legend wasn't good at silence.

"I for one am happy that you've managed to make a friend," Victor explained as his smile returned, "how did you two meet."

"Well according to him we met at Yakov's training camp a while back," Yurio told him as he began to explain how to Kazakhstan skater had rescued him from the Yuri Angels. The conversation ending the night as not too long after the trio ended up returning to the hotel, going to their rooms as the trio split with Yurio going back to his room to think the day over.

Considering it all the day was one of his better days, definitely being better than the day he learned Victor had quit skating and he went to sleep with a genuinely happy feeling.

The next few following days became almost a blur for Yurio as everything seemed to be happening at once without giving the young skater much time to process anything as the days rushed by. He remembered breaking Victor's world record for the short program and feeling proud of his also remembers wishing Otabek luck as the Kazakhstan skater took the ice.

But he especially remembered how Victor had come up to him with concern over Yuuri's thoughts on retiring which had been a moment of clarity for Yurio. No matter what he couldn't let the katsudon retire, the pig had spent too much time and effort at improving himself that Yurio would be damned if he let Yuuri retire without a fight. And so Yurio stopped him the only way he was sure would work.

He skated, he made sure his performance was the best he had ever done, for if he could take the gold there was no way that Yuuri would be able to retire with only a silver medal to show for it. And his performance paid off, Yurio walked off of that podium with gold hanging around his neck and a feeling of happiness as Victor came up to him during the banquet to let him know both he and Yuuri would be on the ice next season.

With that information Yurio was able to enjoy the banquet without any worries as he mingled among the other skaters, eventually finding himself next to Otabek as the two of them stood together and watched the other skaters try to get Yuuri drunk again.

"You did really great with your routine," Yurio began as he looked up at the taller male

"Thanks, although not as good as you," Otabek answered, "you where amazing."

"Yeah well, I had a really great coach," Yurio spoke as he noticed Yakov watching Yuuri and Victor as Victor could be seen trying to convince Yuuri onto the dance floor.

"I can tell, is it true Victor is returning to the ice?" Otabek qustioned.

"Uh-huh, he's going to be coming back to Russia to skate while Yuuri goes back to Hatsu," Yurio told him.

"I would've thought Victor would still remain as Yuuri's coach," Otabek mused.

"That's what I thought but I think it would do them both good to spend time refining their skills by themselves," Yurio spoke.

"Guess you're right, so you'll be going back to Russia soon then?" Otabek questioned.

"Yep, in two days I think it was, Victor convinced me to get a later flight date. Said it would do me good to do a little more sightseeing," Yurio explained, "what about you?"

"About the same, except I personally wanted to spend a little more time here before I went back to Kazakhstan," Otabek answered.

"Well Victor, Yuuri, and I are going to explore the town tomorrow, would you maybe want to join us?" Yurio asked, knowing that neither Yuuri nor Victor would mind if Otabek joined them on their excursion.

"Are you sure they won't mind if I tag along?" Otabek questioned Yurio.

"Oh trust me they won't, if anything they'll encourage it," Yurio told him.

"Okay then, I'd be happy to join you three," Otabek answered, a small smile apparent as he looked at Yurio.

"Great, meet us in front of the hotel tomorrow morning at 10:00," Yurio instructed.

"I'll be there," Otabek answered before both he and Yurio where suddenly yanked away from the wall they where standing next to by a certain living legend and a drunk katsudon.

"Yurio! Dance with me!" Yuuri spoke drunkenly as he all but dragged Yurio onto the dance floor as Victor pulled Otabek along.

"You asked for it pig, I won't go easy on you this time," Yurio spoke, not resisting as he had tried that at the last banquet and it hadn't worked. Instead he went along with it as he found himself in another dance battle. Only this time it was he and Otabek against Yuuri and Victor.

What happened next became another blur in Yurio's memory as he ended up dancing until he didn't have the energy left to dance anymore. Which admittedly was much later in the night as he and Otabek where formidable opponents for the coach and skater duo.

"You're really good at dancing," Yurio told Otabek as he caught his breath, slightly leaning on the taller male as he caught his breath.

"So are you," Otabek returned the praise, the two of them finding themselves walking back towards their rooms of the hotel. Both having unanimously decided it was time to get some rest and call it a night.

"Goodnight Yuri," Otabek told him as the two where about to part ways, Yurio giving a start as he turned to look at him. Not knowing why Otabek's use of his real name instead of calling him Yurio had shocked him so much.

"Goodnight Otabek," Yurio responded as he shook off his shock, retreating to his hotel room as he wondered why his own name had shocked him so much. Maybe it was the fact that he had gotten used to being called Yurio by the others, or maybe it was just because it was Otabek who said it. Whatever the case Yurio fell asleep in confusion, yet despite that he still couldn't wait until tomorrow.


End file.
